A 27-foot Nataraja sculpture installed outside the Bharat Mandapam ahead of the G20 Summit weighs around 20 tonnes and took around 3.25-lakh man hours to take shape, the government said on Tuesday. Officials from the Ministry of Culture say that the sculpture was created by the traditional Sthapatis of Swamimalai, who specialise in Hindu temple architecture, using the lost wax-casting process as per the measurements mentioned in the Silpa Shastra. The Silpa Shastra refers to the ancient Hindu texts that are considered as manuals for sculpture and Hindu iconography, prescribing the proportions of a sculptured figure, its composition, principles and meaning. The sculpture has been crafted using eight metals or ‘ashta dhatu’ (copper, zinc, lead, tin, silver, gold, mercury and iron), and has been created in the style of Chila tradition, which was prevalent in the southern part of India, 9th century onwards. Officials say that the Nataraja, or the Lord of Dance, symbolises the omnipresent and the infinite. This form of Lord Shiva is a synthesis of religion, philosophy, art, craft and science, they add. Nataraja’s idol also has two invisible triangles interlocked representing both Shiva and Shakti, officials say. PM Narendra Modi had recently named the Chandrayaan landing spot on the moon as Shiva-Shakti point. Meanwhile, inside the venue, right at the reception area, stands a life-sized bronze replica of the 4,500-year-old Harappan Dancing Girl sculpture, which was discovered during excavations at Mohenjodaro in 1926. The girl from the Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation rotating on an elevated podium stands in the centre of the arrival hall, officials said. The actual height of the object is 10.5 cm but the replica is 5 ft in height, weighing 120 kg.
